


Wash Me Away

by goddamnitkastlewrites



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-19 10:11:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12408408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddamnitkastlewrites/pseuds/goddamnitkastlewrites
Summary: First posted to goddamnitkastle.tumblr.com on October 17, 2017.The original summary is below:"So Anna Begins by Counting Crows slapped me in the face with Kastle feels and this fic happened.Enjoy :)"





	Wash Me Away

He wasn't suppose to come back into her life. That night in the woods, when he was holed up in the shed with Schoonover and she stumbled away, should've ended everything. He wrapped up what was left of Frank Castle, gave it to her, and told her to fuck off. He was dead, nothing left to be saved. There's no point in being someone when everything that made them up was dead. 

He tries to convince himself of this, despite having just seen her hours ago. He's sitting at the kitchen table, the coffee mug gone cold in his hands. Karen's intel was spread out, meticulously noted and thoroughly researched. 

Micro's footsteps break the stasis of the hideout. Frank doesn't mind it but when he looks up he didn't realize how much time had passed. The surveillance cameras had gone from day to night, the city still bustling all the same. 

“Well?” 

“Yeah she uh... she got it.” 

“Good. Will you let me look at it soon or do you need more time with it?” Micro asks with an incredulous look. 

Frank doesn't answer right away. Micro raises his eyebrows and they disappear into his shaggy hair. 

“I'm good.” He pushes part of the pile toward him. 

“Are you?” 

Micro's accusatory tone throws Frank off. 

“You got something to say?” 

“Nothing I just... this Karen Page. She does something to you.” 

“She's resourceful. You asked me to get the intel and I trust her.” 

“I know, you told me. Repeatedly.”

“Cut the shit Micro and just say it.” 

“Fine, are you in love with her?” 

“What?”

“Look Frank I get it. I am not judging and you should move on...” 

Frank doesn't mean for the following moments to happen but he hears  _move on_  leave his mouth and he couldn't stop. He puts Micro in a headlock. For a former NSA analyst he's scrappy. He claws at his forearms and Frank is forced to pin them against the table. He pushes his head against the papers, the mug falls and smashes on the floor. 

“Jesus Christ!” 

“Have you forgotten what we're doing? What I'm doing?” 

Micro doesn't answer. 

“Have you?” 

“No! But Frank I see you with her and...” 

“And what?” 

“I'm not gonna say it. I'd like to keep my head. And I know you need it intact.” 

Frank blinks, the rage slipping away. He remembers why he agreed to work with him. There are people who need to be killed and Micro wants the same. He releases his grip, runs his hands down his face. 

“When I'm with her it's nothing. Nothing you need to worry about.” 

“Okay. I will definitely not ask that question again. Just... be aware of what it looks like to others.”

Micro walks away, adjusts his scarf and cardigan from the tussle. 

“And you owe me another mug.” 

\---- 

_He was wrong._  
_He was wrong._  
_He was wrong._  
_He was..._

The rain falls heavily, him and Karen are soaked when they reach her apartment. She's exhilarated as she takes off her coat, kicks her heals off. He's tentative in his movements, doesn't want to get too comfortable. He wants to leave. He wants to stay. He wants to rip her a new one about getting them almost killed today. He wants to make coffee, tell her about the time Frank Jr. tracked mud through the entire kitchen after a particularly bad storm. 

Karen is down to just her black dress, her hair already thrown up in a messy bun. A towel in hand, she rubs her neck. Her smile falls when she catches sight of him. 

“Do you have to go?” 

“No.” 

He doesn't move. He hasn't felt this frozen in a long time and he's terrified. 

“Take your coat off, you'll get a... ah...” 

Her face scrunches tight and she lets out a sneeze. The moment gobsmacks him in how beautiful he found it. He's fucked now he realizes. 

“Bless you, ma'am.” 

“Thank you. Seriously Frank, you should take that off.” 

She crosses to him and starts rubbing his beard with the towel. 

“Karen.” 

She meets his eyes and all he wants to do is drown. Drown in her, drown in the droplets that cling to him. To her. One falls from her earlobe, lands right on the curvature of her neck. He takes her hand, ice cold but soft. He says her name again and she's gripping his hand right back. He drifts to her, hones in on that pebble of water. It disappears under his lips, and he just stays there. Content to smell her skin, clean with a faint hint of vanilla. 

“Frank.” 

He doesn't say anything. He knows he should but the words aren't coming. Not quite yet. She's starting to shake and he places his other hand on her arm. 

“Frank. I don't want any...”

_Regrets._  
_Consequences._  
_Doubt._

She doesn't say these things but he hears them. She moves her hand to grasp his wrist. 

“You... see me. And I don't want to lose that.” 

His voice is low as he runs his hand down her arm. 

“Please don't... I can't do this forever and you... with you I feel like I wouldn't have to.” 

He kisses the spot where the raindrop was. She moves her hand to cradle his head. 

“I've wanted to die for so long... and I still want to...” 

“Frank.”

She lifts his head up, holds it in between her hands. She kisses him and warmth returns to his veins. She's still so cold though, so he decides to envelop her. She shudders against him, and he realizes he still has his coat on. Neither of them make a move to get it off. Not for a while anyway. Eventually it does, when he's laying her down on the bed and kissing her knees, moving closer to where he really wants to go... 

\---- 

She's fast asleep in his arms. Their world is a shade of gray that looks dreary to most but not to him. No this color is perfect. 

He thought about this moment from time to time, wondered who he would get on his knees for after Maria. Who's altar he would whisper sweet nothings to. The guilt would come bubbling up and he'd go out to breathe easier. After a while he believed she wasn't out there. That Maria was his one and done. 

Karen stirs, runs her hand down his ribs. If it was possible they would break under her touch. His shoulders are still tingling from her nails. But he wouldn't trade these sensations for anything right now. They were sure as hell better than black eyes and split lips. The fact that he could still feel them... 

He should be worried. Concerned. 

Rage was easier to feel. The pain that came with loss was manageable. Putting everything in boxes, labeling them properly, that has always worked for him. These new emotions... they didn't, no couldn't, fit into his life anymore. But as his fingertips slide down her hair, he can feel his mind change. Like everything is washing down the drain and all that's left is her.

He could do this in between. Hopefully she could too. He wasn’t exactly ready to but he was going to try. For her it would be worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> The song in question is linked below:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVhkvaPuRYo


End file.
